Mobile Suit Omega Gundam
by Linkinpark30101
Summary: An original story set in the Gundam universe using the original calender Luna Genus. Witness the grim battles that take place in Luna Genus 69. It contains elements from all Gundam series. R&R. Episode 5 coming soon.
1. Chapter 1

MOBILE SUIT OMEGA GUNDAM

MOBILE SUIT OMEGA GUNDAM

(I own everything accept the concept of Gundam which is owned by Tomino Yoshiyuki & Hajime Yatate.)

**The Story:**

Earth and Space have begun using the Luna Genus calendar when man first started its first successful settlement on the moon to escape the now nearly unstable environment on the Earth. By now pollution has taken its toll on mankind. Earth is now 70 desert and because of the melting of the polar ice caps most of the shores of the major continents are below sea level. As a result countries like Japan, Cuba and Madagascar are now completely below sea level and artificial cities had to be constructed over where the land once was.

The remaining residents have fled to the center of the remaining bodies of land where large cities have been constructed to preserve the life on the Earth. These cities are powered by solar energy taken in by the five large solar towers located all around the Earth. These towers also provide transportation to space.

5 years in the Luna Genus era, the colony project began. By 45 L.G., 20 colonies were completed and separated into five Lagrange points.

To construct these colonies; Aeon Industries, a lunar robotics company, had to construct large robots for the labor. These new machines were called mobile suits. However, mobile suits were also created for war. Because the space and earth governments disagree with one another on a great level, wars were often fought between them. Because the moon wasn't allowed an army of its own, thanks to government treaties, it remained neutral.

Because of the war, neither Earth nor Space was safe...

**69 L.G.:**

With major advances in several fields of science, humanity has been able to preserve life on the planet and in space for quite a long time. Just 23 years ago, Aeon Industries on the Moon had recently rolled out advanced androids for everyday labors at the homes of humans everywhere. These androids don't pollute, are unable to harm humans, and are reasonably durable. Biogenetics have also been updated. Cloning and DNA altering are such things in that field that can be done by every day people, but the price is high to have it performed.

Earth is now in command of a single large government called Rebirth. It has given itself that name because the government plans on leading the Earth to rebirth. Despite its plans, the government was corrupt. Strict rules and laws have been set for those who live in the large metropolises erected on the Earth's dying land.

Seeing these cruelties take place, a rebel group called Redemption was formed to bring down the corruption in the government. The story begins here…

**EPISODE ONE: THE YOUNG SOLDIER**

"How do I look?" The man with long white hair straightened his uniform to seem as formal as possible. "I want to look presentable to the doctor." He tucked two fingers into his color and pulled it outward to give his neck more room. "After all, I haven't seen him in five years."

"You look excellent, sir." said the soldier in the elevator with him. He himself stood up straight and looked respectful of his superior officer.

"Thank you." He gently brushed his hair out of his face and yet a good portion of it still covered his left eye. He smiled and folded his arms behind his back and under his cape that reached his waist. "Dr. Sebastian has come all the way down from the moon city of Shangri La for this and we must greet him properly." The cylindrical elevator came to a slow halt and the doors slid open to the sides. He slowly came out with the other soldier behind him. The hallway was short and lead directly to a small room with the far wall covered in computers and hologram projections. At work with this equipment was an elderly man in a lab coat. He had on thick glasses and was obviously going bald since the whole top of his head could be seen. "Dr. Sebastian, it's been a while."

The man turned from his work to see the man standing in the entrance of the room. "Raphael Lucrezia, yes, it has been a while." He quickly turned back to the computer to continue what he was doing. "Five years now?"

"Yes." Lucrezia nodded and slowly approached Dr. Sebastian. "I heard about your wife and I'm very sorry to hear it."

"Don't be; she lived a long life and I'll be joining her soon enough." He responded without turning away from the equipment as he pressed numerous buttons. "My son will be able to support himself now that he's taken over my position at Aeon Industries."

"That's right; you're retiring after this, aren't you?" Lucrezia asked in a rather cheerful tone.

"Yes, this will be my last project before I retire."

Lucrezia looked to the metal blinds in from of a window that was positioned over the computers. "Speaking of which, may I see this project?" Dr. Sebastian looked up at him and nodded. He reached over to a large red button on the wall to his left and pressed it with his whole hand. When he did the metal blinds started to move upward and a large, well lit room was able to be seen on the other side. Erected in the center of the room was a large robot with many cords and wires attached to many section of it. As the blinds rose higher the view of the large machine was better.

Lucrezia looked on in satisfaction at the machine that seemed to look directly at him. This machine was painted mostly black and was well armored with the best known alloy. But the thing that stood out the most was not its paint job, but the V shaped antenna that was added to the front of its face above its eyes and attached to each side of its main camera lens. "I must say…this is your best work yet…" He paused and turned to the doctor. "What was its name again?"

"Omega…" responded Dr. Sebastian. "OMS-0XX Omega Gundam."

**Elsewhere…**

"Lance to base."

"Lance to base!"

"We read you, Lance."

"Request landing at runway 14."

"Permission granted."

The OT-005, a.k.a. Buzzsaw, smoothly U-turned to the long runway on the ground marked 14 in big white letters. The large, 15 and a half meter, easily flew through the air and slowly descended towards the large paved ground. This performance was to be expected of such an advanced mobile suit. It was outfitted with two large thrusters that sat inside a pair of fins that stuck out its back. The same kind of propulsion was added to the sides of each of its legs which it used to reduce its speed as it touched down onto the black top in front of a building with the number 14 stamped on its sides and roof. The pilot sighed in relief. "Another smooth landing." He pushed forward on the controls under his feet and the massive machine began to move its legs forward. He controlled its direction with the controls in his hands as he led it towards the hanger in front of him while making sure no vehicles or people were in his path. The monitor in his cockpit made it easy for him to see. Even though it was like a box, the front, left and right and top and bottom sides were each a large monitor that gave him near perfect view of everything that happened around him.

Once inside he folded the wings downward and set his mobile suit on a large rack that held it in place. Once in place he shut off the engine, undid his seat belt, and opened the hatch in front of him. He exited it and walked out onto an elevator lift that was beside the cockpit hatch. "Hey, back in one piece, are we?" The pilot looked down to the civilian boy who stood at the foot of his suit.

He took off his helmet and shook his head to get his hair out of the mess it was in from being in a helmet for two hours. He ran his finger through it constantly to get it straightened out after he pressed a button on the elevator lift's control panel to bring it down. As it descended he kept his eyes on the person standing below with a smirk on his face. "Nice to see you too, Renji." It came to the bottom and he hopped off of it and threw the arm the held his helmet over his shoulder.

Renji looked up at the Buzzsaw and whistled. "You're so lucky you get to fly something like that, the only suit I ever got to sit in was one of those cheap Hornet models." The mobile suit he was referring to, the OT-001 Hornet, was the first type of unit of the OT model series utilized by the Rebirth military since 60 L.G. and was, at this point, an obsolete model compared to the ones used today, but they continue to use them for trainees.

"Yeah well, you have to be pretty good to used something that good." He started walking away from the machine as the mechanics ran over to it to make their maintenance check. "By the way, how did you get in here? Didn't they kick you out when they caught you sneaking into the cockpit of an OT-003 Sting?"

"I came in through the only door that didn't have a guard stationed by it." said Renji as he walked beside him.

"You picked the lock on it too?"

"Yes, that too." said Renji. "But hey, you said you'd be back at 5 o'clock sharp, its fucken' five thirty-four; what's up with that?" He asked showing the time on his digital watch.

"Hey, I had to escort one of the military's slowest transports, nothing I can do about that." The two exited the building and walked towards a bunker. "You need to really be more patient, Renji."

"Yes sir, Lieutenant Junior Grade Lance Terra."

"Stop that." said Lance. In the bunker locker room, Lance changed out of his pilot suit and into his normal street clothes which consisted of a leather jacket, black jeans and shoes, and a red shirt under his jacket. He also had a gun under his jacket because of his military status. Even though it was concealed under his jacket the strap over his chest was visible. As he changed, Renji spoke to him about what he and their friends did while he was gone.

When they exited the locker room and started walking down the hallway to the parking garage, Renji reached into his coat pocket and pulled out some papers that he had folded up. "Hey Lance, I want you to check these out!" he said as he unfolded the paper.

Lance looked over at them as he kept walking. "What is it?" He looked clearly at it and knew what it was.

"These are the blue prints for the latest android that's still in production." said Renji. Lance could have seen this coming. Renji has always been fascinated with androids that the moon produced and brought down to earth, especially the female ones. These blue prints that Renji had were obviously sold to him by Bob Marcus, who they know as 'Pops'. He always has something to sell to them that has never been released to anyone. "The skin is suppose to be smoother and more sensitive to touch so it's response to physical contact with other things is improved." He said pointing to sections on the body.

"I see." said Lance. He turned away for a second to see a solider passing by salute him. Lance saluted him back as he passed.

"And look at this." Renji pointed to a diagram of the pelvic section of the body on a separate sheet. Lance looked at it and looked to Renji with a raised eyebrow. "You can have sex with!"

"Jesus…" Lance said in annoyance. "Why are they making such a thing; I mean, who would actually find sexual pleasure with an android?"

"Because it brings in money, buddy." Renji said smiling. "And it makes people happy."

"I don't even like androids." Lance said. He saluted another solider that passed by them.

"Don't you have one?" asked Renji folding the papers up and putting them back in his pocket.

"Yes I have a house maid android, but it never crossed my mind to have sex with Syrus; I actually tend to avoid her." Lance said taking a turn to the hall that lead straight to the garage.

"Avoid her? Your android is hot!" Renji said hitting the back of Lance's shoulder.

"Fuck you, Renji." Lance walked over to Renji's car and he got into the passenger side. Renji owned a red, hydrogen fuel cell convertible. He climbed into the drive side and started it up. They both left the garage through the 5th floor exit that took them straight to the highway that lead straight to the large city called Gaia City located right in the middle of the United States, or what's left of them. Lance and Renji have lived there all their lives.

Lance Terra was 19 this year. He has been a pilot for the Gaia City Guard for almost three years now and he's one of the best. He finds it amazing that he possesses great natural piloting skills. Lance's parents are wealth office workers that spend their entire days doing their jobs and almost never see each other.

Renji Matsunaga is 17 and still in high school. Renji lives in the same neighborhood as Lance because his dad works in the mobile suit development fields. Despite that knowledge, Renji has never actually operated a mobile suit, but really wants too. He met Lance in middle school when they both joined the basketball team. Lance, for some reason, always performed better than Renji.

Renji looked off the road for one second to see Lance staring out the window at nothing in particular as he bit his thumb nail on his right hand. "Something up?"

"Renji…" Lance started taking his thumb out of his mouth. "Do you think the world we live in today is perfect?"

"Hell no." Renji responded. "Our government is the worst, we aren't even allowed outside the city walls." Renji quickly merged into a different lane. "If I could vote on who wins the war, I'd vote for the rebels."

"I think so too…" said Lance still staring out at the city he was drafted to protect.

**Rebirth Government Head Facility in Gaia City…**

Lucrezia made it back to Gaia City in exactly thirty minutes after Lance did. Along with him were the completed Omega Gundam and its equipment. Immediately after he landed there he reported to the head government building in the heart of the city to confirm his successful mission.

The elevator opened to the seventh floor of the elegantly styled building. The halls were all painted white with golden paint lining the edges of the walls and every fourth of the way down there were a set of pillars near the walls; of course, these were only decoration and weren't needed to support the ceiling. The walls were filled with artworks of all types since the leader of Gaia City, Mordrid Hellsing, was fascinated with art, mostly from the Renaissance Era, just as much as Lucrezia was fascinated with nature, which is the reason he keeps a rose sticking out of his pocket. The red carpet that extended down the halls ended at a set of doors at the end of the hall where a female servant android stood waiting for Lucrezia.

"It appears I'm expected." He stopped right in front of the android that stood in front of the doors. She bowed to him and turned to grasp the golden handles and open the large doors. She quickly moved to the side and held out her hand to invite him in. Just as Lucrezia entered the room she closed the doors behind him. The room was just as decorated as the halls. The room has pillars in each of the four corners of the room. Expensive vases sat on hand carved tables next to the doors and near each window on the sides of the glass doors that leads to the balcony. To the right of the room was a large white fire place with a framed painting of a light house on the shores of an ocean hanging above it. In the middle of the room was a small table with a large chair on each side of it. On the table were a traditional Japanese tea set and a book labeled _Hamlet_.

"Ah, Raphael, you're here."

Lucrezia turned to his left to see the book case with a person standing on a ladder. Mordrid was putting books back into place on the book shelf. "Yes, as you asked I delivered the OMS-0XX here to Gaia city, we weren't followed."

When Mordrid came down the ladder was when Lucrezia noticed his human servant standing in wait. Mordrid walked over to Lucrezia with a book in his hand and showed him the title. "Have you read this?"

Lucrezia looked down at the title and immediately recognized the title of _Macbeth_. "Yes sir, I've read all of Shakespeare's works."

"Is that so?" he asked. Mordrid had shoulder length bright blue hair with a section of it hanging over his left golden eye. His outfit was similar to Lucrezia's but without any badges or a cape. Mordrid turned and walked over to the table and placed the book over the one already sitting on the table. He brought his hand up and motioned Lucrezia to come over. "Come. Join me." Lucrezia accepted his invite and sat in the chair right across from him on the other side of the table. Lucrezia, who had always kept a straight back slouched over in his seat and placed his arms on his knees. Mordrid sat in a former manner and crossed one leg over the other. "I'd like to say well done. You've never failed me once."

"I'm glad to hear that." Lucrezia exposed his teeth when he smiled this time.

"How was your visit with Dr. Sebastian?" he asked.

"It went quite well. His son is taking over for him on the moon now."

Mordrid nodded. "He's a brilliant man. I understand that he has also performed customizations to your mobile suit as well."

"Yes sir." Lucrezia answered. He looked to Mordrid's servant who has already left the room. Then he turned to Mordrid with a question. "I understand that with the new security system installed in the Omega that only one person can fully operate it. Might I ask who that person is?"

"Of course." Mordrid reached down and placed his hand on the bottom of the side of the table and pulled on it so a compartment would open up that contained a file. Mordrid pulled it out and looked at it. "You'd be surprised." He lightly tossed the file towards Lucrezia.

Lucrezia looked down at it and spun it around so he can read it. The file read:

Lance Terra

Rank: Lt. J.G.

Position: Mobile suit pilot

D.O.B.: Oct. 25, 50 L.G.

Sex: Male

Nationality: Japanese

Blood Type: B

Height: 178 cm

Weight: 72 kg

The file also contained a picture of the person described in the information. "This person is quite young. Tell me: why did you pick this boy?"

Mordrid looked to the window at the city. "The really reason is something I can't share with you. But he is a very experienced pilot; almost as good as you are."

"Is that so?" He looked down at the picture once more.

"I've assigned him to your team."

Lucrezia looked up in surprise. "My team?"

"Yes, that means he will go back to Avalon City in England with you." Mordrid rested his chin on his hand. "In my opinion, I wish kids like him wouldn't have to be engaged in a war."

"I feel the same way…"

**Central Gaia City Market Zone…**

Renji parked his car in front of coffee shop that he and Lance always go to after he picks him up from the base. The coffee shop, called simply Coffee Stop since it was on the side of the highway, was in a cylindrical shape and was almost completely covered in windows. "Kaoru and Cho are in there already."

Lance looked to the shop and back to Renji. "All you guys waited for me?"

"Yeah, we haven't seen you in a while, man." Renji climbed out of his car and shut the door. Lance came out shortly after and followed behind Renji through the electric doors of the shop. The shop was quiet and filled with round tables with at least two chairs at each. In the center of the shop was the ordering counter where the coffee was made. On the far end of the shop was a table with four seats with two of them occupied. "Hey guys, I got em'."

Both of them turned and once they saw Lance they smiled. "Lance, you're back!" said the Chinese girl in the blue sweater and jeans at the table before she got up and ran over to hug Lance. When she jumped onto him he almost fell backwards.

The Eurasian boy sitting at the table dressed in a black turtleneck shirt and pants took his time getting up and walking over to greet his friend. "You're back!"

"Y-yeah…" he said forcing the hyperactive girl to get off him. After she finally let go he wrapped his arm around her waist and shook hands with Kaoru "Cho, Kaoru, how have you two been?"

"We've been fine, but school's kicken' my ass." said Kaoru.

"You're going to fail Physics!" teased Cho in a musical tone.

"Oh shut it."

"You're lucky you don't have to go to school Lance." said Renji. "They picked you out right before you entered your junior year."

"Yeah well…" Lance did not really know how to respond to that so he just ended at that and took a seat at the table. Everyone else sat down as well. Lance leaned back and crossed his legs.

"So Lance, what did you shoot down?" asked Renji.

"Well, you know, the usual bandits who only use those obsolete Vertigo suits." Lance said. "About three." A waitress android walked over to Lance. When he noticed her he looked up. "The usual." She nodded and looked down at Lance's gun that happened to be exposed. Lance noticed this too and had to show his military ID. She accepted it and left.

"No rebels?" asked Cho.

Lance put his ID in his pocket and looked at her. "No, no rebels, they're smarter than that to just attack without a plan."

"Yeah." Renji said. He sipped his coffee. "I actually want the rebels to win. Our government is the worst thing that happened to this world." He sighed. "Our so-called leader said he'll 'lead the Earth to rebirth', yeah right; that guy's full of shit!"

"Let it go Renji, that's just how the world is." said Kaoru. "There's nothing we can do about it."

Lance waited on telling them something for a while now seems to be the best time. The waitress came back with Lance's coffee and left. He picked it up and looked down at it. "Guys…I'm being transferred…" Everyone at his table stops and looks towards Lance. "I'm leaving tomorrow…"

"Tomorrow!?" Renji leaned in towards Lance. "You just got back! Where!?"

"England."

Kaoru's eyes widened. "That's across the ocean! Why so far?"

"I've been transferred to a different mobile suit team." Lance didn't even drink from his coffee. He just held it in his hand. "Pilots like me are nothing but trading cards to the government."

"Can't you argue to stay here?!" asked Cho with great concern.

"No…no I can't…"

**Late the following night…**

Renji drove up to Lance's house and parked in his driveway. He put it in park and looked to Lance who stared out the window. They stood silent for a while. The news that Lance presented to his friends was a shock to them and hard to accept. Renji thought it was time to break the unsettling silence. "…I told Cho and Kaoru we'd be here in the morning to see you off." Lance nodded. "I can even drive you to the base…"

Lance turned to Renji. "Thanks man."

Renji looked down at the time. 10:46 p.m. was the reading. "I better get going."

"Yeah." Lance undid his seat belt and opened the door. He walked over to the driver's side. "Take care, Renji." He nodded and backed out of his driveway. Lance watched him as he dove over next door to his house and park in his garage. Lance looked away once his car was out of sight and walked to his front door. He did not have to unlock it since someone other was already inside, but not his parents. Lance walked in and closed the door behind him before taking his shoes off and placing them near the door. Then he reach for a pair of lounge slippers and placed them on his feet before walking off the front door mat. He started walking up the stairs before he noticed Syrus walk up from the basement with a basket of laundry. Syrus was his family's customized house hold android. She had short blue and blue eyes and only stood five feet and four inches. Her usual outfit when doing chores was a white t-shirt and blue shorts. "Hi, Syrus."

Syrus immediately turned her head to see Lance half way up the stairs and smiled. "Good afternoon Lance, how was your trip?"

"Could have been better." He walked up the stairs and headed to his room at the end of the hall. His room was pretty generic. It had a bed, a bookcase, a study desk with a lap top, a T.V., and a couch. It did not need much since he was never home to do anything in it. He sat himself onto his couch and turned on the television to watch whatever came on. He really did not feel like doing anything. He was depressed. He has to leave his home that he has lived in all his life and the friends that he shared it with. All because he was a good pilot; that's all. He did not want this. He did not want to be a soldier either, but by fate, he was selected at a young age as if he was doomed to leave this place.

Syrus came in with a tray of food and noticed Lance on the couch. "Would you like something to eat?"

Lance looked away from the screen and towards Syrus as she stood perfectly still with the tray. "Oh, sure. Just put it on my bed." Syrus nodded and placed the tray on the bed and immediately looked out the window with a concerned face. "What's wrong?" asked Lance. Lance turned and looked to his open window which had a tree outside it. The branches were being moved around. Lance turned off the television and slowly stood up. "Stay there, Syrus." He reached into his coat and pulled out his gun. As he cautiously approached the window he removed the safety. When he got close enough he reached out, pulled away the branches and pointed his gun to whatever he saw in the tree. The girl spotted in the tree screamed once she saw the gun. Lance jumped back and dropped his arms in relief. "Sora…"

"Lance!" she said. Sora was Lance's neighbor and childhood friend. She lived down the street from him and always came to him when she needs to get out of her house, sneaks out, or simply needs help with her homework. She would always climb up the tree near his window to get in unnoticed.

Lance put the safety on his gun and sheathed it. He reached out and helped her into his window. "How did you get up here? My dad hired a bunch of Mexican dudes to come and trim the tree last week."

"Well," She was pulled in and jumped through the window onto the floor. "there's still that lower branch that fails to get cut that I can jump up and grab." Sora dusted herself off and looked at Syrus. "Hi, Syrus." Syrus bowed as a greeting. Sora turned to Lance. "I heard from Cho that you're being transferred." she said in concern.

"Yeah." he said. He put his hands on his hips. "I'll be going to England and I might be only able to visit once a year."

She put on a sad expression and threw her arms around Lance. "I'm going to miss you."

Lance wrapped his around her waist. "I know." He knew that out of everyone she would miss him the most so it was probably appropriate to hug her now, but having Syrus in the room watching was very uncomfortable. Lance pulled away when he heard more rustling in the tree. "What now?" He did not take his gun out this time. He walked over in annoyance and pulled back the branches to see Renji. "Damn, is my window now the new front door?!"

"Renji, what are you doing here?" Sora and Lance pulled Renji in through the window. Renji quickly jumped onto the floor and looked around in a panic.

He pointed out the window. "Did anyone follow me?!"

"What?" asked Lance.

"Just look!"

He looked out and around his yard before looked to Renji who was still hyperventilating. "No." A gun shot was suddenly heard. Sora yelped and Lance looked out the window towards Renji's house. There was a military vehicle outside of it parked on the side of the street. Another gun shot was heard from inside the house. Everyone went quiet. Shortly after, two soldiers came out sheathing their guns. They walked back to their car talking about killing rebel spies. Lance looked at Renji who walked backwards in shock onto Lance's couch. Sora walked over and sat next to him to calm him down.

"They said that my parents were traitors…" he mumbled. "They were charged with treason and were to be executed…" Sora put her hands on his shoulders to comfort him as Syrus surveyed the situation.

"What do we do Lance?" Sora asked.

Lance saw the car drive off towards the area of the city where the base was. Lance was now deeply angered now to see that he was working with the same people who killed his best friend's parents. He quickly made up his mind. "Call Kaoru and Cho, tell them we're leaving the city, together."

**TO BE CONTINUED…**


	2. Chapter 2

MOBILE SUIT OMEGA GUNDAM

(I own everything accept the concept of Gundam which is under the ownership of Tomino Yoshiyuki & Hajime Yatate.)

**EPISODE TWO: THE BLACK GUNDAM**

**Outskirts of Gaia City…**

Captain Gavin Browning observed the situation from the captain's seat aboard the hover transport Kappa. He sat staring out the forward window at the city walls with his chin resting on the back of his hand as he waited for news. A man in uniform approached him and looked to his mesmerized commander. "Sir?"

"That thing is still in there, right?" asked Gavin.

"Yes sir, Agent 49 has never been wrong." said the man. "The target doesn't ship out until noon, sir."

Gavin raised his head. "We must strike while the iron is hot." He turned to the man next to him and looked down from his seat. "Christopher, let's go to the hanger." The man nodded. Gavin jumped down from his chair and followed him out of the main deck. Both exited into a hall that lead deeper into the land based vessel. They didn't go very far before they turned and walked down another hall that lead to a metal door. Christopher pressed a button on the control pad and the door slid open to a large mobile suit hanger that contained three RMS-007 Saviors and a number of people working on them.

Christopher walked over to a microphone that was attached to the speakers all over the two hangers in the Kappa and spoke into it. "Attention all hands: prepare for combat! I repeat, all hands: prepare for combat! All available pilots must report to their units and prepare for sortie!" Everyone in the hanger literally scrambled all over the place with machinery moving around to make space for the mobile suits. Christopher put the microphone back onto the wall and turned to Gavin. "You're not going too, are you, sir?"

"I must make sure that this mission succeeds." he said as he watched the pilots scramble to their machines. "Besides, according to Agent 49, he might be there; and you said yourself that Agent 49 is never wrong."

Christopher nodded. "Understood, I will stay on the Kappa and provide cover fire."

**Gaia City Main Military Facility…**

4:37 a.m. was what his watch read when Renji checked his watch again. "Hurry Lance…" He pulled his sweater sleeve back over his watch and examined the group of people around him. Kaoru was dressed in a black sweater with red jogging pants and white running shoes. He had two bags with him. He was sitting one of them while the other was on his back. Cho wore a long black coat which concealed her white, long sleeved shirt and red skirt. She had one bag with her. Renji wore a red hooded sweater and jeans. He paced back and forth as he kept a look out for anyone that might be coming. They were hiding next to a shed attached to a mobile suit hanger that was closest to the on base residents. The base was active with military vehicles coming by every few minutes. Renji breathed hard. "It must be 50 degrees out here."

"Why hasn't Lance shown up yet?" asked Sora. She was covered in a black coat as well and she was sitting with her back against the shed.

"He said we should leave without him is he doesn't show up by 5, right?" said Kaoru.

"He's coming with us, late or not!" said Renji. He spun around and started walking in the opposite direction of the group. He stopped in his path and looked ahead to see someone underneath the elevated highway road running in their direction while holding a woman's hand. "It's Lance!"

Lance came to a complete halt in front of Renji and put the bag on his shoulder on the ground. "Sorry I'm late; I needed to make sure Syrus had enough energy to some with us."

Kaoru stood up and ran over to Renji and Lance when he noticed Syrus. "You brought Syrus with you?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

Lance glanced over at Syrus and she glanced at him. "I couldn't just leave her there. Besides, she's more of a parent than my parents are."

"Yeah well, if she gets busted you can always get a new one, y'know?" said Renji. "Like the one I showed yo—"

"Shut up, Renji." said Lance once he knew what he was indicating.

"I don't mind." said Syrus. Lance turned and faced her to hear what she had to say. "If I can no longer function at required efficiency, then it is highly recommended that you replace me."

Lance leaned over and put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't say that." He removed his hand and looked at the group. "Looks like everyone's here." He walked over to the side of the hanger's armored wall and watched the activity. Soldiers seemed to be scrambling as if preparing for battle. Armored jeeps flew by left and right that were packed full of people. Mobile suits were also on the move. "What's going on…?"

Cho stood behind Lance as he surveyed the area. "Hey Lance, what do we do once we leave here?" she asked in concern.

"We head to one of the country villages outside the city that the government doesn't have a base stationed near by." he said not taking his eyes away from the situation on the base. "If worse come to worse, we'll join the rebels."

"And go to war?"

"You guys can come just to be safe, I'll do the fighting."

Renji walked over to him and yanked on his shoulder. Lance turned his head to notice him. "Hey, no way man. If you're going out there, then I am too!" Lance's face showed slight signs of being shocked at Renji's decision. "I got your back, buddy."

**Gaia City Base: Hanger 18…**

Lucrezia yawned before looking back up at the OMS-0XX that was already set for transportation along with its weapons. It was lying on its back on a MS transport truck with its legs facing towards the front. Its weapons were in containers attached to separate transport trucks. "Back to Avalon already, huh?" He looked outside at the transport that will fly it to its destination. Its cargo door was open and the ramp ready to take in its load. He suddenly heard the sound of someone running towards him and turned around to see someone running towards him. "Ah, Petty Officer Walker, what seems to be the problem?"

Walker was an American man in his late thirties. He was a little on the short side for his age, but a skilled pilot. He stopped and saluted Lucrezia. "Sir, I called the on-base residents of Lt. JG Terra and no one picked up."

"Does he not keep a house keeping android?"

"He does sir, but there was still no answer."

Lucrezia sighed. "Locate him immediately; he needs to be on this fight if he is to go with the Gundam."

"Gundam, sir?"

Lucrezia turned and pointed to the Omega. "That."

"Oh, right!" said Walker. "Understood, sir!" He turned and ran to a jeep.

Lucrezia looked outside through the hanger's main entrance at the city wall. He suddenly noticed a cylindrical object fly beyond it with a trail of smoke on its tail. It flew up at quite a distance and started flying downward towards the base. "Walker, take cover!" Lucrezia got down on his hands and knees and rolled under the truck with the Omega on it.

The object dumped its outer casing and many micro missiles flew out in different directions and showered the base. The missiles did damage to everything on the base. The shrapnel from the explosions flew everywhere and flew into buildings and sliced through people that tried to run from the explosions. "We're under attack! I repeat: we're under—" The pilot's transmission was cut off once his mobile suit was struck dead on by a falling missile. The suit detonated and its parts showered the ground around it as the legs that remained flew backwards onto the ground from the force of the explosion.

Lucrezia looked out from his position to see Walker on his rear in a state of surprise. He looked away and back at the mess outside the hanger. The transport ship outside was untouched. He started into its cargo bay to see his machine inside. Lucrezia crawled out and turned to Walker. "Walker, find Lance Terra now!" he commanded. "I'm going to get my mobile suit!" Walker nodded and scrambled to his feet as Lucrezia started running to the ship to get to his machine. "Is this a random attack from the rebels? Or do they know that the Omega is here?" Those questions raced through his head as he ran up the ramp to the ship.

Lance and the others were on the ground and shaken from the missile shower. He looked up to see everyone behind him face down. "Is everyone alright?"

Renji looked up. "We're cool, Lance."

Lance jumped to his feet and looked around the corned again to see the base in shambles. Medics were running around trying to tend to the injured as unfamiliar mobile suits jumped over the wall and entered the city with weapons ready. "The rebels?" Lance turned to the others who where helping one another get to their feet. He ran over to Renji and grabbed his shoulder. "Renji, I want you to take everyone and get an armored transport from hanger 8. Use Route 18 to get out of the city and try and meet up with the rebel transport outside."

"The rebels are here?"

"Don't ask questions right now!" said Lance. "I'm going to get a mobile suit and meet up with you guys on the outside!" Renji nodded and had everyone grab their bags and start running. Lance turned to the base and started running into the battle. The sound of gunfire from mobile suit weapons could be heard everywhere. Once he was at the end of the hanger's side wall, a jeep came up at his side and came to a complete halt. Lance jumped back from nearly being hit by a car and looked the driver.

The driver stood up in the vehicle. "Are you LT. Lance Terra?"

Lance nodded his head with surprise that someone would be looking for him at a time like this. "Yeah."

"Petty Officer Walker." he said saluting. Walker jumped out and swung his arm in a motion telling Lance to follow him. "Quick, we got something for you!"

Lance hesitated in questioning why. He ran behind Walker into the hanger with a big 18 on the side of it as the battle raged on. Once Lance came in through the main entrance the first thing that caught his eye was the black mobile suit on the transport vehicle. Lance slowed down from a run to a slow walk as he examined the new machine with amazement. "What is this?"

Walker stopped next to the ladder that lead up to the deck. "Commander Lucrezia called it Gundam." He said. "He also said that it's yours."

"Mine?" asked Lance looking to Walker and back to the black machine.

"Hurry, Lieutenant!" he called.

Lance pulled himself out of the trance and ran over to the ladder. As Walker moved out of the way, Lance quickly scaled it, ran to the Gundam and climbed onto its side next to the red panel on its chest. "Where's the lock release?" As Lance searched, his eyes were caught by the mobile suit's face. The face was structured differently from the other models and it had a pair of golden rods sticking out of the sides of what looked to be the main camera. He once again stopped himself from being distracted and looked down to see a lever under the chest's left vent. He crouched down and pulled it towards him and the lock on the hatch released which allowed it to slowly open towards the waist of the machine with a pair of hydraulic rods on each sides of the panel. Then another panel on the inside slid back into the chest to expose the cockpit. Lance looked down at Walker. "Walker, was it?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Can you move the truck while I get this thing going?"

"Yes sir!"

In the midst of the conflict, Gavin did battle with an OT-001 Hornet. He showered the machine with gunfire and it fell onto its back unable to function. Gavin took a deep breath and surveyed the area through his cockpit's monitor. "Tyrone, locate the target!" he said over his communication speaker.

"Got it, boss!" was the response from an allied pilot.

He looked around some more and a transport ship caught his eye. "What's that doing there?" Suddenly, a mobile suit flew out from the other side of it and into the air. His cockpit's alarm suddenly went off as his eyes fixated on it. "What the-?!" The thing in the air was a white mobile suit. His Savior raised its rifle to fire, but the enemy machine tossed a beam dagger like a boomerang and sliced off the barrel. "He cut my rifle?!" The first thing that shot into his mind at that instant was who the pilot was. "It's him…Raphael Lucrezia."

The machine that Gavin encountered landed on its legs and faced his machine. It was a customized OT-004 Yellow Jacket outfitted for close-combat only. All of the long-range combat weapons it had as a normal unit were removed and replaced with a variety of close-ranged weapons. It also had an improved generator for longer operation time and was painted in the colors Lucrezia chose. Lucrezia stared into his view screen at the machine standing before his with pleasure. "We meet on the field of battle once again, Gavin Browning." Lucrezia's mobile suit reached its right arm over to its left hip armor and removed the high powered beam saber attached to it. Once ignited, a bright red blade emitted from it and was held out like a fencing saber.

"A saber fight again?" Gavin's mobile suit dropped its beam rifle to the ground and pulled its beam saber off its rear armor. The beam emitted from it was also a bright red. Gavin attacked first. He swung the saber at the left side of his opponent, who quickly blocked the pat of it with his own.

"You attacked sooner that usual, are you in a hurry, Gavin?" questioned Lucrezia when the enemy machine attacked him. He retaliated by pushing aside the saber and swinging at his opponent's main body.

Gavin quickly brought up his shield to block the attack. The metal shield blocked it in time, but the saber cut a large gash into it. There was now room for him to attack. He brought his saber up again and swung at Lucrezia's suit. Seeing this, Lucrezia put up his unit's beam shield that was attached to its arm to block the strike. "Damn, with an inferior mobile suit, I can't win!"

**Residential District: Route 18…**

Renji and the others were quick in stealing a hover truck to leave the city. The armored vehicle looked very suspicious on the road with all of the other cars. Renji drove the large and clumsy vehicle. With the others sitting in the back area. The road was packed full of cars which made it impossible to speed up or pass them by. "Shit, why is everyone on the road right now?!"

"Perhaps they know of the battle going on inside the city." said Kaoru. He was sitting across from Sora and next to Cho. He held onto her hand as the situation continued. "Are you okay, Cho?"

She shook her head. "I—I've never been outside the city..." She kept her head down as she shivered.

"The current state of the North American continent's land is about 60 percent desert, 18 percent forest, and 22 percent mountain range." stated Syrus. "Living conditions outside the city are quite harsh."

"Do us a favor and keep that information to yourself, okay Syrus?" said Renji.

**Inner City Base…**

Once Gavin and Lucrezia's suits clashed beam sabers once more, Lucrezia pulled out another one and sliced Gavin's Savior's right arm off. The arm hit the ground and Gavin was forced to back up and put up its damaged shield for defense. "Damn it, he's got me!"

Lucrezia's Yellow Jacket returned its other saber to its proper place and pointed its main weapon at Gavin's Savior. "Looks like I win this round."

Walker drove the carrier carrying the Omega out from the hanger enough so that Omega could stand. He quickly put it in park and got turned it off. "That should be good enough." He jumped out and ran over to the side off it and looked up at the still open cockpit hatch. "Okay, start it up!"

"Got it!" Lance jumped down into it and flopped onto his back into the seat. The first thing he did was grab the seat belts and put them on. He took some time to look at the controls inside the dark cockpit. There were more buttons and switches than in the cockpits of mobile suits he was use to using. "More weaponry?" He looked down between his legs and saw a lever that was labeled: Hatch close. He reached down and pulled the lever which made the inner panel, which was the forward monitor, slide down over the cockpit opening and closed shut the same time the outer hatch came closed. Then the main controls moved upward in front of him. Lance located the master switch and clicked it on. The whole machine started to hum. The entire monitor system flashed on with a full view of everything going on around him. The information screen on the main controls also lit up and displayed its current startup status.

_System start up at 25 percent and climbing…_

Lance looked up from the controls and looked around the cockpit to find the source of the voice.

_Systems now at 55 percent, renal scan initializing…_

Lance looked down at the controls once more and a red beam shot out over his eyes. "Ah!" he covered his eyes from the sting of the beam and rubbed them.

_Pilot confirmed; controls have been reverted over to pilot. All systems on line…_

Lance opened his eyes again and blinked a few times. Then he looked at the lower monitor to see the Yellow Jacket advancing on the Savior. "He's in trouble…" Lance relaxed into the seat of this new machine and put his hands firmly on the handles and his feet in place on the peddles. Lance took in a breath and let it out. "Here we go!" He pressed a button on the left handle and pushed forward on them, which made the entire machine start leaning upward.

Gavin looked behind Lucrezia's machine to see the raising black mobile suit that had emerged from the hanger. He quickly knew what it was once he noticed the features of its head, mainly the golden 'V' shaped antenna. "The Gundam!" He made sure his shield was still up as it rose. "Are we too late?!"

Lucrezia suddenly realized that something was going on behind him and turned his head to look out his rear view monitor to see the Omega getting to its feet. "The Omega's moving? Is it Lance?" He stood and watched as the powerful new mobile suit stood on its own two feet in front of the carrier and stood straight up with its hands clenched and its eyes flashing green as if it had awoken from a long sleep and is now ready for battle. "Amazing, Dr. Sebastian would be proud to see this moment." smiled Lucrezia. He looked down at his controls and opened a communications channel to the Omega. "Attention Lieutenant JG Lance Terra, this is your commander speaking!"

"Huh?" Lance looked up from examining the controls to look into the monitor that displayed the mobile suit in front of his staring back at his. "Him?"

"I assume the Omega is operating correctly; please get rid of the other rebels." he stated. He turned his attention back to Gavin and raised his beam saber.

Lance looked around at the fighting. There were about three more mobile suits in the area that belonged to the rebels. The one in front was damaged and was clearly fighting his commander. "So they haven't suspected anything yet…?" Lance looked down at the main controls again. "Okay…lets have a weapons check." He clicked a button and a weapons list showed up on the control screen that displayed where they were located on the unit and how to use them:

_Machine Cannons: Shoulders: operated with button 4 on both hand controls._

_2 Beam Saber: Located on rear skirt armor: activated with button 1 on both hand control and hand carried when used._

_2 Beam Shield: Located on each arm: Activated with button 2 on both hand control._

_Beam Boomerang: Located on backpack: activated with button 7 on main consol and hand carried when used. _

_2 'Nero' Beam Gun/Saber: Located on each arm: Beam gun operated with trigger 2 on each hand control. Hold down trigger 2 to operate beam saber function._

_2 Anti-armor folding knives: Located in each leg: container opened with button 8 on main consol and hand carried when used._

_2 Variable Speed Beam Rifle: Attached to backpack: activated with button 3 on both hand control and operated with trigger 1 on each hand control._

_Optional Hand armaments: _

_Beam Rifle: Hand carried and operated with trigger 1._

Lance looked over the list. "That's quite an arsenal for one mobile suit." He commented from the list. The Beam Rifle did not seem to be a choice at the moment because he did not know where it was—though it was actually attached to the right hip of the mobile suit. He noticed the Variable Speed Beam Rifle and thought it to be the best choice, but he did not see anything attached to the backpack. Then he noticed the Nero Beam Gun/saber that seemed to be the most versatile weapon at his disposal at this point. "Perhaps I should use these 'Nero' Beam gun and beam sabers…"

Lucrezia looked away from Gavin's machine and back to the Omega to see that it has not moved an inch. "What?" He opened the communications channel to the Omega again. "What's wrong, soldier?" he asked. "I told you to begin combat with the enemy! Is there a problem with the unit?"

Lance looked back at the Yellow Jacket before him. "I need to act." He looked at the controls that were in his hands and found trigger 2 near his small finger. "Alright." He pulled the control forward and clenched the button. The Omega raised its right arm and a crimson beam saber emitted from the rectangular hole in the arm guard that also covered the top of the hand. "The only enemy I see is right in front of me!" answered Lance to Lucrezia.

Lucrezia took his answer as a bit of a shock. "In front?" he looked to Gavin's mobile suit. "Does he mean Gavin…?" He quickly looked back to the Omega and noticed that it was charging at him. "What the—?!" He raised his beam shield and blocked the incoming red sword. "What are you doing soldier?!" He quickly noticed that his beam shield was failing to hold back the beam saber and it was cutting through. "Impossible, the saber's particles are so dense that it's penetrating my shield?!" He quickly pulled back on the controls and his machine distanced itself.

"I am no longer a member of the Rebirth military!!" He pressed down on the peddles and the machine began to run towards the Yellow Jacket using its left beam saber this time. Once he was close enough he stopped the Omega and swung down with the beam saber.

"Damn!" Lucrezia brought up his unit's beam saber to block the attack, but the highly dense beam penetrated the saber and cut through his mobile suit's shoulder joint with ease. "Incredible!" He quickly reached for the other saber on his unit's hip but the other arm was quickly removed at the elbow joint as the Omega spun around and swung with its right beam saber. "It can move like that?!" He was forced to pull away from the situation and retreat. "Dr. Sebastian…your Gundam is a success…"

Lance let go of both of the triggers and watched the mobile suit fly off into the city. He took a deep breath and let it out. The sound of gun fire still taking place made him look back at the situation. When he looked back at the devastated base he noticed the damaged Savior staring back at him with its main visor sending him a message in a form of code in the form of light signals. "What…is…your…communi…cations….channel?" Lance looked at the controls and looked at the button that was labeled: light signal. The Omega faced the machine and he tapped the button many times. "One…zero…five…point…seven…" he said to himself. He looked to the machine again. "How will he respond…?"

"That was some impressive skill you displayed there."

"Uh, thanks…"

"Who are you?"

"I'm Lance Terra."

"Lance? I don't think I've ever heard of you."

"I-I just defected to your side, right now."

"Just know? That's convenient."

"Yeah, I'll even give this machine to you." responded Lance in order for them to trust him.

"I see. Alright, then we'll head out now."

Lance looked around the area. Then he looked back at the hanger that the Omega was stored in and wondered what happened to Walker. "Wait, we need to get the weapons!"

"Weapons?" asked Gavin.

"Yeah, this machine comes with more weapons and I think they're still in the hanger."

Gavin looked to hanger 18. "Okay, I'll call over my team; you go confirm it."

"Okay." Lance turned the Omega towards the hanger and had it start walking in the direction. As he did he looked at the area and noticed the amount of damage done to the base. Not a single building was left untouched by the conflict that took place here. All of the mobile suits that were once stationed to defend the base were completely destroyed as well. Lance looked down into the hanger to see three hover transport trucks with large containers on their backs. "Are these them?" He turned around to see three Saviors with minimal damage approaching him from behind. "Here, I think these trucks carry them."

"Good, we'll take them, you'll follow us." said Gavin. He watched as the others grabbed hold of the trucks and lifted them. "All units head out!" he commanded. All of the Saviors took flight and flew in the direction of the city wall. Gavin turned to the Omega. "You coming?"

"Yes." said Lance. He watched as the damaged mobile suit took flight ahead of him. Lance flipped a switch on his hand controls and pushed forward on them. His unit took flight with a great acceleration speed and was quick to catch up to the mobile suit he was following. Lance sighed and looked back at the large city that he once called home as he realized that he was going to leave it behind forever. Not as single building was touched by the conflict, which was a relief to him. "Good bye, Gaia City…" Then he quickly thought of his friends and hoped they were alright.

Gavin took his helmet off and took a breather from the battle. He looked back to see that the Omega was still following him. "Such an impressive machine…" He was astonished by its brief performance and its appearance. "Gundam…" Was the word that came to his mind as he watched it follow behind him.

"Commander, this is Christopher." The communication came from the transport and went to Gavin's cockpit.

"I read you Christopher; mission accomplished, we have the target."

"Good to hear sir, but I wanted to tell you we have taken in a military vehicle carrying what appears to be children."

"What? What are they doing?"

"We're not sure. We've placed them in the holding cells and await your return before we can give them a chance to explain themselves."

TO BE CONTINUED…


	3. Chapter 3

MOBILE SUIT OMEGA GUNDAM

(I own everything accept the concept of Gundam which is under the ownership of Tomino Yoshiyuki & Hajime Yatate.)

**EPISODE THREE: THE MEANING OF GUNDAM**

**Gaia City Base Command Center…**

Soldiers surviving the blitzkrieg attack on the base scrambled in a rush with the equipment as they tried to recover their forces from the attack. Communications were quick to have all available soldiers seek out survivors and tend to the wounded. Outland security was scrambling as each man or woman searched for the attackers using the radar system. This was a disaster. "Get a medic over to hanger 12 immediately!!" called out the base commander. "Have someone see to the damages to the runways as well!"

Lucrezia looked out the window of the command tower at the devastation caused in the attack. Not only was the base heavily damaged, but the Omega—the machine that was entrusted to him to bring back to Avalon City in England—was stolen. He sighed and shook his head. "This disaster may just end my career once I return to Avalon." Lucrezia pulled himself away from the devastation and brought his attention to the base commander. "Commander Cullen." The Cullen quickly ceased from giving orders and turned his attention to Lucrezia. "How is the salvaging going?"

Cullen took a deep breath and walked over to the central hologram projection table and looked at Lucrezia on the other side. Cullen was a rather pudgy African man in his late thirties with a weak beard around his mouth and a large head. "This is a disaster." he responded. "I have almost twelve facilities destroyed, over twenty transports completely trashed, and over a dozen mobile suits either destroyed or disabled; how well do you think it's going?"

Lucrezia nodded weakly a few times and his eyes wondered off. "I see." he said under the calls of the other soldiers. "It was my mission to keep the Gundam safe out of enemy hands. I will take full responsibility for this once I report back to Avalon."

"Damn right you will." said Cullen, still trying to remain calm in this conversation. He took a sip from his coffee mug and placed it back on the table. "You couldn't stop the Omega from being stolen. Not only that, but my base was blown to hell in a hand basket." he said leaning over and resting his arms on the table. "And where were the suits from Avalon in this? I didn't see a single one." Just then, the double metal doors that lead to the command center slid open and a young man had entered through them. Cullen and Lucrezia were quick to notice him. The boy was slightly shorter than Lucrezia. He had brown, thick, hair that grew out over his eyes, but a portion of it had been moved aside to make his left eye visible. He was dressed in a casual button-up shirt that hung out over his jeans and a pair of shoes that looked like slippers. He looked like a civilian.

"Who is he?" asked Cullen.

Lucrezia turned away from the new comer and back to Cullen. "That's Captain Danny Allens; he's the leader of the mobile suit team you spoke of that came with me from Avalon."

Danny looked to Lucrezia and Cullen and smiled. "Good afternoon, mates." he said in an Australian accent. Danny approached the table. "Now how are we all doin'? Surviving I see?"

Cullen looked at the cheerful man with disapproval of his nature. "You son of a bitch. Where were you when this base was under attack?"

Danny looked to him with his confident smile still on his face. "I was following orders."

"Who's orders?"

"Lord Gabriel's orders." He answered. "I was going to launch to lend a hand, but just then, Lord Gabriel called me on my communicator and told me this: Do not engage the enemy." Danny folded his hands on his back and tapped the foot of his shoe on the steel floor. "So I didn't. Orders are orders, especially from the top."

Cullen looked down. "So my troops were sacrificed…?"

"I'm sure his Excellency will repay you in any way he can." said Danny.

Lucrezia finally spoke up. "Commander Cullen, let us make up for our losses by concentrating on finding the Gundam."

"Gundam?" asked Danny.

"The OMS-0XX Omega Gundam." answered Lucrezia.

"Oh, the Omega." said Danny nodding his head. "Interesting name—Gundam; I like the sound of it."

Lucrezia turned to Cullen. "Round up whatever mobile suits and combat vehicles we have left and have them make a sweep of the area that the transport headed in. If even one can make contact with the enemy, then we'll know their location." Cullen nodded and gave the orders to his soldiers to do so. Lucrezia sat down and spun his rose in his fingers. "What will be your move, Lance Terra?"

**Hover transport Kappa—36 miles from Gaia City…**

Lance and the Redemption mobile suit team made contact with the carrier. The Kappa was easily concealed within the ruins of an old 21st century skyscraper that was once part of a city in the 21st century. Once the Omega was secured in the hanger, Lance was called to the captain's quarters. Only after he got out of the Omega did he realize that the beam rifle that he needed in the city was attached to the hip of the Omega. He was escorted through the carrier by a young woman. Lance had kept silent as the woman led the way through the unfamiliar ship, but then curiosity made him want to say something. "And…you are?"

"Elizabeth Bergins." she answered him. The woman had thick blonde hair that rested on her shoulders and blue eyes behind her glasses. Her outfit was white jacket over a black, skin tight shirt with a matching white mini-skirt and black high-heals. "I work in communications aboard the Kappa."

"I see." Lance let his eyes wonder a bit as they walked. As they did, another question came to mind. "Are my friends okay?"

"They are in the captain's quarters by now, they should be fine." she answered.

Lance decided not to ask any more questions. He kept quiet the rest of the trip with his hands in the pockets of his jacket. It was not very long afterwards before they came to an electronic sliding door at the end of the hall. Elizabeth stopped in front of it and the motion detector opened the door upon detecting her movement. She stepped aside and motioned Lance to enter ahead of her. Lance did so. The room was well lit and nicely furnished for a cabin on a hover transport. At the other side of the room was a desk and behind it was Gavin Browning. Between them was a wooden table that had a set of couches on each side of it that seated Lance's friends. Renji, with a burst of happiness, jumped up and threw his arm around Lance's neck. "Lance, you're alive!!"

"Renji, calm down!" Lance said as he pealed Renji's arm off of his neck. Renji's smile dropped. "I need to talk to the commander to ensure our safety." Renji nodded and quietly sat back down next to Syrus. Lance nodded to him and walked around them to Gavin's desk. As he did, everyone's eyes seemed to follow him.

Lance approached the desk and stood on the other side. He looked down at the seated Gavin and saluted him. "There's no need for that; you're not part of our military."

"I was actually hoping you could add me to it." said Lance.

Gavin nodded. "I see." He pulled out some papers and laid them out on his desk. Lance did not look down to see what they were. Gavin turned his attention back to Lance. "So you're Lance Terra?"

"Yes, Sir."

Gavin studied him closely. "You don't look like a typical soldier."

"I know, but I'm ranked at Lieutenant Junior Grade, Sir."

"That's impressive for some one at your age." Gavin said. Gavin leaned back in his chair. "So you betrayed your army, stole the OMS-0XX and ran to us with the suit as a gift?"

"Yes, that would be the best way to put it."

Gavin took in a deep breath and exhaled. "Do you have any regrets?"

"Regrets?"

"You just ran away from your home, your family, your friends—everything." Gavin said. "Are you actually willing to throw away the life that you had?"

Lance hung his head a little. Having all of this information put in front of him was a real snap back to reality. As a result of the betrayal he had thrown his entire life away. Now everyone that he knew will probably be looking for him. Lance pulled his head up. "It was worth it. How were we suppose to life in such a life while it's controlled by a corrupt government?" Lance started giving examples. "I was pulled out of high school to join the military even though I wasn't at the age requirement. Renji's parents were murdered because they were suspected of being part of the rebels." Having to remember that made Renji slouch over in his seat. Syrus tried to comfort him. "There was no way I could work for a military under that kind of rule."

Gavin took in Lance's reasons. "And that's why you ran away?"

"Yes."

Gavin stood up and looked at Lance. He was slightly taller than him when standing straight. "I've lost friends and family to Rebirth too, so I can understand your reasons." he said. "Only once you've witnessed the cruelty of this world do you start thinking there's time for a change. Those are the kind of people that made up Redemption." Gavin held out his hand to Lance. "Welcome to Redemption, Lance Terra."

Lance looked down at his hand and back up to Gavin. He reached out and accepted the hand shake. "Thank you, Sir."

"You are free to be on this carrier, but you and your friends will be put under close watch." said Gavin after releasing the hand shake. "I'm also making you the designated pilot of the Omega Gundam."

"Thank you." said Lance. There was that word again. Every time the Omega was mentioned the word Gundam is attached to the name; what does it mean?

Gavin sat back down again. "You are free to go."

Lance turned to his friends and smiled. They all stood al at once and smiled as well. Renji approached Lance again. "Mission accomplished, buddy." Renji held out his hand to Lance.

Lance grasped it and shook it and put his other hand on Renji's shoulder at the same time. "Thanks." Lance glanced past Renji to Sora to see her smiling and nodding to him. He turned back to Renji and dropped the hand shake. "Hey, why don't you take everyone and go eat something, I'm sure you guys didn't even have breakfast before we left. I need to speak to Gavin about something."

"Sure thing, man." said Renji. Renji turned to the others. "C'mon, it's chow time!" Everyone started heading out the door when they heard the sound of food. Elizabeth was waiting outside the door and followed them to keep them in line as they wondered the carrier.

Once the door closed behind the last one out, Lance turned back to Gavin, who was still reclined in his seat. "Gavin, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Whenever the Omega is brought up, the word Gundam is mentioned." he started, "What does it mean, and why do they call that mobile suit Gundam?"

Gavin leaned forward. "The 'name' Gundam—by it self—means nothing. It's the history behind it is what gives it its value." Lance was all ears at this moment; he wanted to know exactly what makes the name so important. "A long time ago, in previous wars, there were a number mobile suits called Gundam. They were the most incredible machines ever to encounter in battle. They were fast, powerful and adaptable to almost every kind of combat." he said, "They were the most advanced mobile weapons of their time."

"I see." said Lance.

"The Omega would be the most recent incarnation of the Gundam mobile suits." said Gavin. "There's a lot of potential in that machine, Lance; and I hope that you will be the one to bring it out."

"Yes, Sir."

Gavin leaned back again. "I think that's all there is to say. You may leave now."

Lance saluted him and left the room silently after obtaining this information behind the word Gundam. "…Gundam…" He silently repeated the word outside the captain's quarters.

**Mess Hall aboard the Kappa…**

Renji displayed himself as being the hungriest of everyone as he stuffed his face with what ever the mess hall had that was Japanese. Most of his tray was sushi of different varieties and rice drenched with soy sauce. Renji pulled his head up and chewed after reaching his mouth's suggested capacity. After he swallowed he looked across the table at Cho, who had on a face of disgust as she watched him. He stopped and glanced at her and felt a little embarrassed. "Sorry about my eating habits."

"It's not your eating habits, it's what you're eating." she said. "How can you eat raw fish?" Cho, being Chinese, ever ate raw fish or any kind of sushi. She usually ate cooked pork or chicken with her family.

"It's good." Renji smiled.

"And very healthy." stated Syrus. She did not eat anything as she did not require food to operate. Lance entered the mess hall shortly after she finished her sentence, since there was no door in the entry way, no one noticed him and the conversation went on.

"I don't know how you can stand that gook food." she said picking at her vegetables not thinking that Kaoru might be insulted by the word gook.

"What's wrong with gook food?" asked Lance.

Everyone was caught off guard when Lance spoke up. Cho spun her head in Lance's direction and felt like she offended him. "Oh, Lance."

"What took you?" asked Renji.

Lance sat down next to Syrus and made himself comfortable on the bench seat. "Just had a little talk." He looked up and saw Sora holding out a bowel of rice covered with soy sauce and chop sticks sticking out of it. "Thanks a lot." he said accepting it. Lance held the bowel in his left hand and dug around in it with the chopsticks in his right. He scooped up a pile of it and threw it into his mouth.

"What did you talk about?" asked Kaoru.

Lance looked to Kaoru ready to answer his question while chewing. He swallowed and began to speak. "Gundams."

"Gun-what?" asked Renji not catching the pronunciation.

"Gundams." Lance repeated after pushing his second helping of rice into his cheek.

"What are those?" asked Sora.

"They were the strongest type of mobile suits ever build during the wars in which mobile suits were used." he answered; this time with an empty mouth. "Apparently the mobile suit I just stole it's a Gundam too."

"So that suit is suppose to be some type of super mobile suit?" asked Renji as he pointed to Lance with his chop sticks.

"Apparently." said Lance as he picked around his rice some more.

"Did Gavin tell you all this?" asked Elizabeth, who sat at the other end of the table on the side across from Lance.

"Yeah, didn't you know anything about Gundams?"

"No." she said.

Renji, finally done with his food, stands up out of his seat and walks over to Lance. "Hey, where's the hanger? I want to see what kind of suits they have aboard this piece of junk."

Lance looked up at him. "I think I know where it is."

"You kids shouldn't be wandering around the transport, you're under surveillance." said Elizabeth.

"But we've done nothing wrong." said Renji.

"We can't be too careless at this point." she said. "We may have the Omega, but now the enemy will be tailing us twenty-four seven to get it back."

Lance stood up with his counter statement. "Gavin made me a pilot on this carrier; doesn't that mean he trusts us?" he said, "If it's still a concern to you, you can always accompany us."

"We just want to see what kind of mobile suits you guys have." said Renji.

Elizabeth sighed and rolled her eyes. "Kids…" she said under her breath and stood up. "Stay by me." As she proceeded to the exit, everyone began to rise one-by-one and followed her out. For Lance, this was like back tracking from the trip to the captain's quarters, only this time the trip seemed shorter.

The hanger doors were wide open and all the sounds of the machinery could be heard in the halls. As the group came closer, they could hear sounds like metal hitting metal, exhausts of pressure from hydraulic devices and even conversations among the technicians. Lance reentered the hanger with everyone behind him. The view was not the most interesting thing he's seen, but Renji and his friends were very excited to see the rebel's mobile suits. The far wall had three mobile suits set up on racks to keep them in place. Among them was the Omega. It sat right between two Saviors. On the floor in front of it, the mechanics aboard the carrier were inspecting the weapons that belonged to the Omega which were stored in the vehicles brought along from the base attack. All around the hanger were moving machines and parts for the suits to keep them maintained in fighting condition. This was all quite a spectacle for Lance's friends; especially the ones who have not even been within ten feet of one of these incredible, biped mobile weapons. But what really caught Lance's attention was the argument that could be heard over all of the commotion caused by the machinery.

"You treat your suit like shit!" called out one of the mechanics. It was a black woman in a grey tank top and baggy pants made of strong materials and covered in oil stains and a rag sticking out of her rear pocket. Her hair was also tied back in a pony tail to keep it out of her face during work, and she held a huge wrench in her left hand, which was placed on her hip. "Every time you go out and come back you always have something missing or at least ten bullet holes and it just makes more work for me!!"

The man she was yelling to was kneeling on the shoulder of a damaged Savior that was undergoing repairs. He was also black. This man wore a white tank top under a green military vest with blue jeans and combat boots. He was quite muscular and his hair was so short that you could have sworn he was bald from a distance. "Give me a break!" he called down. "I'm out there putting my ass on the line every fucking day so you can live to see your brother tomorrow!"

"If you're going to do that, then maybe you should do better!!" she yelled again. "Jamal's more of a man than you will ever be, anyway!"

"Bitch, I don't see you doing any better!"

"Nigga' please! I will beat the black off your ass in a fight!" she yelled again. Then, out of rage, she threw the wrench at him. The man just barely dodged it when he swung himself to the side. He lost balance on his feet and landed on his rear while still keeping himself on the suit. The woman put her hands on her hips and murmured under her breath.

Lance had heard enough of their bickering to walk up to the bossy woman. When standing close enough to her he could tell they were almost the same height but he was a little taller. "Uh, excuse me—"

She turned around and looked at Lance. "The fuck you want?"

Her sudden snap made Lance flinch a bit. "Everything okay here?"

"Everything's just fine here."

"When will the Gundam be done?"

"The what?" Lance looked to the Omega and she followed his eyes to the black mobile suit. "Oh that? It's fine now. Why is it yours?"

"Yeah, I'm actually the guy who brought it aboard the ship."

The female mechanic looked at him is confusion and surprise. "You?" Lance nodded. "You're pretty damn good, kid." She held out her hand that appeared to be covered in dried paint. "Suna."

Her sudden change in demeanor surprised Lance. He put that thought aside and reached out and shook her hand. "Lance Terra."

The man on the Savior's shoulder looked down at Suna as she socialized with the boy he has never seen before. "She's too friendly around new faces."

"Isn't that one of her good traits, Tyrone?" asked the man on the opposite shoulder of the said machine. He was a young Cuban man in his early twenties. He wore a dark blue jump suit that was as messy as Suna's pants. He rolled up the sleeves as he applied a new layer of paint to the head.

Tyrone smiled and shook his head. "That's why I love 'er, Matt" He looked back again to see her surrounded by a group of kids. "Who is that lil' white boy?"

"That's the Gundam-boy."

"He brought the Omega?!" he questioned in disbelief. Tyrone stood up and jumped onto the elevator platform. He pushed a button on the controls and it started to move downward.

"Hey, Tyrone, don't leave me up here!!" called Matt.

Tyrone stepped off the platform and walked over to the group with his eyes locked on Lance. As he approached the group, Suna detected his foot step and spun around to face him. She crossed her arms and put on an unpleased face. "What, you here to apologize?"

Tyrone sighed. "I'm sorry I screwed up my ride, now can I talk to the new kid?" he asked. Suna rolled her eyes, but seemed to accept his apology when she stepped to the side to allow him to approach Lance. Lance and his friends quickly locked their eyes on the towering new comer. "How's it going kid?"

"Not bad, actually." Lance responded without hesitation.

Tyrone nodded. "So you brought the Omega with you?" He looked back at the untouched, back mobile suit and back to Lance. "You got guts, kid." He held out his hand. "Tyrone James."

Lance took hold of it. "Lance Terra."

Tyrone nodded and seemed pleased with Lance until the exact same wrench that Suna threw at Tyrone came back down and hit him in the shoulder. He grunted, grabbed his shoulder and turned back to Matt, who was still standing on the Savior. "What the FUCK, man!?"

"You left me up here, you ungrateful prick!!" he called down while waving his arms above his head.

"Who's that?" asked Renji.

"That's Matt Sokay." said Tyrone. "He's an ass hole."

"Such vulgar vocabulary." said Syrus.

**Kappa: Main Bridge…**

Gavin sat on the captain's chair with his chin resting in his hand. As he looked out the window he made a sigh of relief. "We have the Omega now; we can leave as soon as it's safe."

Christopher approached Gavin. "We can leave for the nest in about 3 hours, sir."

Gavin nodded. He looked at the radar on the unattended control panel and noticed about four red objects moving across it. "Chris, check that radar, what are those objects?"

Chris quickly moved over to it and ran his fingers over the buttons. "Identifying them as…" He stopped and waited, on a hologram screen up over the window, it displayed the structural designs of three different mobile suits. "They're Rebirth mobile suits, and they're closing in, sir!"

Gavin sat up straight. "Send a message to the hanger, have every available mobile suit we have ready for launch."

**Kappa: Starboard Hanger…**

Lance was explaining the weaponry and the mobile suits to all of his friends as they pointed them out. Lance had basically inventoried the entire hanger until the alarm went off over the speaker. "Enemy mobile suits detected! Launch all battle ready mobile suits within 30 minutes!"

"They found us?!" said Lance.

"What should we do, Lance?" asked Cho, who seemed a little frightened.

Instructing his friend's safety was Lance's first priority. "Everyone, go to the main bridge! While you're there, try not to get in anyone's way!"

"The bridge?" asked Kaoru.

"I'll take them there." stated Elizabeth. She told Renji and the others to follow her and they left the hanger the way they came in.

Once they were out of the way, Lance immediately ran over to Suna who was yelling out commands to the other mechanics. "Suna!" he called. He came to a halt right next to her. "Suna, what's our battle strength?!" he asked, "How many mobile suits can we send out?"

Suna looked at the suits and their conditions. "Only Tyrone's machine and Matt's machine are good enough to be sent out."

"Not the Omega?"

"No, it has no one to pilot it."

"I'm the pilot." said Lance.

"Then you better not be standing around here!" she said over the noise. "Follow Tyrone and Matt to get a pilot suit, now!" Lance nodded and quickly ran to the exit that he saw Matt use earlier. "You better be pretty damn good, kid."

Lance found an open door in the halls and looked into it to see Tyron and Matt standing in front of open lockers and getting themselves into full body pilot suits. Lance entered and walked over to Tyrone. He was zipping up his grey pilot suit and fastening the strap around his neck. "Tyrone, are there any other suits for me?"

"You're going out too, kid?" asked Tyrone as he reached down to the bench and picked up his helmet.

"Of course; are there any for me?"

Tyrone looked at the lockers and pointed to the one on the end. "There's one in 13 that might fit. Be quick about it." he said before he jogged out of the room.

Matt zipped up his pilot suit and saw Lance open the locker and take off his jacket. "Are you sure you're ready for this, kid?"

Lance pulled out the suit and turned his head to see Matt all ready and holding his helmet under his right arm. "I've probably shot down enough suits to say I'm ready."

"Don't disappoint us with that Gundam, okay kid?" He left the room immediately after and ran to the hanger while pulling his helmet over his head.

Lance quickly put both feet into the legs of the suit and pulled it up. After that, he slipped both his arms into each one of the sleeves before using his hands to pull the zipper to his neck. He quickly pulled out the boots and slipped one on each foot and zipped them to the pant legs before fastening them to his legs. He picked up his pace as he put each glove on his hand and grabbed the helmet. He left the locker open and left the room. He ran as fast as he could back to the hanger while slipping the helmet onto his head and attacking it to the neck of his suit.

Lance got to the hanger just in time to see Tyrone hop down into the cockpit of his mobile suit. It slid close a few seconds after. He took his eyes off that and ran to the lift platform to the Omega. He pressed the button to go up immediately after he jumped onto it. As it lifted, he took the time to calm down from his rush. As he did he let his eyes follow Tyrone's Savior as it pulled its feet off the mobile suit mount and proceed to the weapon racks. With the left hand, it reached its arm out and hooked a metal shield to it with a shield mount on the arm. With the right, it pulled a rifle off the rack and proceeded to the hanger doors that slowly open downward to provide a platform for the machine. The lift came to a stop next to the Omega's cockpit hatch. Lance used the same controls as before to open the hatch and it steadily opened up. Lance stepped inside and tossed himself into the seat. He flipped on the power and closed the hatch as soon as he sat down. When the monitor screen displayed the activation status of the Omega, the security system scanned Lance's eyes once more before it allowed all the controls to operate. Once the whole monitor flashed on and he could see the hanger through it, Lance put his hands on the handles and his feet on the petals. "Time to go…" he said as the Omega lifted its feet off the mobile suit mount and proceeded to stomp over to the opening to the sea of sand.

The Omega's communications link activated and an image of Elizabeth appeared on the left of his monitor. "Are you ready to go, Lance?"

"Yes, the Omega's operating fine." he said. "I can go any time."

"Whenever you're ready then." she said.

Lance looked back to the forward monitor. "Lance Terra in the Omega; no, Lance Terra in the Omega Gundam: heading out!"

TO BE CONTINUED…


	4. Chapter 4

MOBILE SUIT OMEGA GUNDAM

(I own everything accept the concept of Gundam which is under the ownership of Tomino Yoshiyuki & Hajime Yatate.)

**EPISODE FOUR: THE COST OF WAR**

It was mid-day. The point when the sun was at its highest in the sky making the sands of the land of a once proud country shined like a river of gold. America and its system of government had become dust to be carried in the wind. In 54 L.G., America's economy suffered its greatest depression that finally caused its down fall. Of course, America looked to other countries for financial support, but they were eventually dragged down as well. The economic situation for Middle Eastern countries that supplied the world with oil, and thrived because of it, was destined to fall with the depletion of the world's fossil fuel and the world's reliance on solar energy.

Because of the falling of each country's government system, due to economic depression or otherwise, the U.N. had to quickly take action and came to a majority vote decision to place one single super government system in control over the world. However, those countries that were against the idea and could still maintain economic stability wanted no part in this decision, but the majority of the world's nation were desperate and had no other choice. Eventually, those not in favor of the decision seceded from the United Nations and the world. Because of this decision, the position of the President or Prime Minister had been reduced to a position on par with governor. Those lucky enough to avoid such a rule fled to space to live in the colonies. Countries like China, Russia, Germany, and even Japan still stand strong today against the Rebirth government, but they are slowly failing.

This one single super government system, put in place by the United Nations before it too collapsed, controlled the world with an iron fist. Did the U.N. ever expect that government to be corrupted with power? Did they even wonder what would happen if a single man were in control of the entire world? Probably; but who is left to ask those questions to? No one.

Today, the glistening sands the were once streets of a thriving city in the United States were being kicked up by five advanced humanoid mobile weapons we know today as mobile suits, the key to military dominance. Rebirth currently has six different models in their military system. The first and simplest model was the OT-001 Hornet. This machine utilized basic weaponry and was a general purpose unit for battling against other mobile suits. The second one was the OT-002 Wasp. This one was a transformable mobile suit that could fly as if it were a fighter plane and transform into a mobile suit in combat and back again. Third was the OT-003 Sting. This machine was equipped with special weapons to take down large military vehicles like mobile suit transports and mobile fortresses. The four one produced was the OT-004 Yellow Jacket. This was a high mobility machine made to be commanding units for ace pilots and commanding officers. It was very common that ace pilots customized their unit to their likings. Lucrezia customized his machine for close combat use only and eliminated all long range weapons. The Fifth and latest model is the OT-005 Buzzsaw. This machine is still in its prototype stage and only a handful was produced for field testing. This high performance machine was assigned to only the top pilots to collect data on it before putting it into production and making it the first mass-production mobile suit to utilize a beam shield. One of these machines was given to Lance Terra. However, nothing is known about the sixth model. Rumor has it that they are unlike any suit the earth or space has produced, and there were only four of them.

The five unit mobile suit squad hovered over the sands with optional hover units on their legs. The team included a Hornet, a Buzzsaw, two Stings and a Wasp. The Wasp was in its mobile armor mode and flew over head of the other units. This one served as the commanding units of the search team and was piloted by the recently promoted 2nd Lieutenant Walker to pull him out of the security officer position to mobile suit pilot in the air force. "All units keep formation and be alert! The enemy could be hiding among the ruins!"

"Sir!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Rodger that, commander"

Walker smiled with the satisfaction of being a commanding officer for the first time and to be piloting a military class mobile suit and not a security unit. "I'm one step closer to obtaining my dream." he said to himself. "Watch me, Commander Cullen, I won't disappoint you." He opened a line to one of the suits. "Cadet Ora, we're counting on you when we find the transport."

"Yes, sir." said the woman in the cockpit.

**Near by…**

Lance's team, led by Tyrone, hid among the ruins in whatever structured could conceal their mobile suits. Lance had his Omega concealed in what was an office building that had about seventeen floors on it. Each one was empty and enough of the floors were corroded away for the Gundam to fit in. He used the windows of the building to spot any suits approaching and kept an eye on the radar to wait for them to be detected. "They were picked up on the ship's radar so they should be close by." He looked at all of the instruments in the cockpit while he waited.

"Hey kid," called Tyrone over the communication line. "How many suits do you think they can afford to send after the beating we gave them at the base?"

The rebels did cause quite a bit of damage to the base with the missile shower and quite a few mobile suits were destroyed in the surprise attack. Lance gave it a quick thought. "Not many, probably four or five if they want to start an ongoing pursuit team."

"Okay." said Tyrone. "We have a three unit team, but we're hoping the Gundam can take on three at most."

"I can take on five." said Lance. "I actually took part in the 'Mississippi Massacre' seven months ago."

"You were in that battle?!" said Matt. "Were you in that new model machine?"

"Yeah, I used the OT-005 Buzzsaw." answered Lance.

"I see…"

What was he so surprised about? Was Matt at the battle? Just as he began to remember what happened in the battle, his radar beeped and five lights showed up on the radar monitor. "Hey guys, I just picked up the mobile suit team, they're closing in. One's faster than the others, so it might be an OT-002 Wasp most likely in its flight mode."

"Alright," Tyrone got himself situated in his seat as he watched through his spherical monitor screen and gripped the controls. "They should be in firing range within 45 seconds. Get ready guys!"

"Okay!" Lance looked at his radar and watched the suits draw closer and closer at a steady pace. As they did, he controlled his breathing to slow and steady breaths as he counted down the time. "…41…39…38…37…36…35…" Suddenly something beeped in his cockpit and he looked up startled. His machine already had a lock on the OT-002. "Guys, I already have a lock!"

"What?!" This amazed Matt. "But that wasn't even forty-five seconds!"

"Then shoot!" commanded Tyrone. "Shoot now!!"

"Yes, sir!" Lance pressed down on the trigger button on his right control handle and the beam rifle that the Omega was carrying in its right hand launched a bright red, almost pink, beam of charged particles straight at the target.

Walker's machine glided through the air without interference. He actually started to relax and enjoy the ride until his alarm went off after picking up an incoming heat source. "What the!?" He pulled hard right on the controls when he noticed the red light coming straight for him. The beam passed by him, grazing the side of his machine. His monitor pulled up a damage information window that displayed a three dimensional model of his machine with a red rectangle indicating the damage to his machine. "A particle beam?!" He turned on his communicator. "Everyone scatter! They're using the Omega and we don't know of its abilities yet so be careful!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Got it!"

"Moving out!"

Walker's mobile suit team spread out in separate directions and put up their guards for oncoming shots. "They're probably close by." He said to himself. He saw another shot coming their way. The shot went off to the left and hit one of the other suits, taking its left arm off. Another shot flew at them and struck the Hornet in the the cockpit and it passed through out the back of it. The machine fell to the ground with its pilot dead. "Who can hit a suit from that range? Do they have some sort of sniping system?"

Lance had a binocular scope in the cockpit out in front of him and was firing away at the enemy pursuit team with his machine's amazing range. "I can hit them at this range…is this the power of a Gundam?"

"Great shooting, kid." said Tyrone. "Could use a little work, but you got those bitches all worked up now!"

"Thanks, but they're still coming." He said. He pushed the scope back next to the seat's head support and got ready for close-range combat. "Looks like we're going straight in."

"We need to make sure they don't find the transport." said Matt. He positioned his suit's rifle and left off rounds at the closest suit. It was an OT-003 Sting. No doubt that they sent in these machines to do damage to their carrier. The Sting glided across sand as it dodged the shots and pulled its back mounted beam cannon under its arm and took aim at Matt. "Ah shit!!" He quickly pulled back on the controls and his machine leaped out of the building it took cover within right before the shot passed right through the structure. "They got some heavy duty fire power!"

"Damn right!" yelled Tyrone as he fired at a one armed Sting. The Sting took hold of its beam cannon and aimed it at Tyrone. "Fuck!" His machine raised its shield to defend even though it was not enough to defend against a weapon of that strength. To his relief and amazement, the Omega flew down and swung its left leg into the head of the enemy suit and tore it off the neck. The Sting lurched forward from the force of the kick before it could fire off a shot. The Omega hooked its beam rifle to its hip and pulled out a beam saber from its saber rack on its rear skirt plate and ignited it. The rectangular saber hilt produced a bright red beam. The Omega grabbed the headless mobile suit by its left shoulder and swung the blade of energy down into its right shoulder joint. Sparks and burning pieces of metal flew as the beam saber passed through the mechanical workings of the shoulder and the joint that hooked the beam cannon to the back pack to supply power in a flash. After doing the damage, the Gundam tossed the disabled suit into the sand and deactivated its saber. "…that's some wicked shit right there."

"Just wanted to let you know that you can rely on me." said Lance after exhaling.

"Good work." said Tyrone. He looked to his right monitor and saw Matt's machine taking fire. "Oh no, Matt!!"

Lance looked in the same direction and sprung into action. The Gundam leaped into the air with the help of its thrusters and ignited its saber again. Matt's Savior was hiding behind debris from an old department store as beams flew past him. "Tyrone, Lance, anyone, help me out here!"

2nd Lt. Walker's machine flew by with a hail of shots aimed at Matt's suit. Walker smirked as he watched the pinned down mobile suit struggle to survive. "Keep him down, I'll look for the carrier." he said over his communicator. He started turning around before the sun's light was suddenly cut off and his cockpit became shadowed. "What the?" He looked up to see the most frightening sight he has seen in his life. He saw the Omega Gundam right over head of his suit and staring down at him. It was like he was staring straight into the eyes of Death; that was how scared he was. Words failed him as the Omega brought its beam saber over its head and swung it down at the OT-002 Wasp and cut it in two at its waist. The Wasp started spinning out of control as it plunged nose first into the sand and slid to a complete stop in the ground.

The Gundam landed on the ground rushed at one of the other suits pinning down Matt and charged at it with its saber. However, the suit saw him coming and used its vernier thrusters to dodge the attack. "This one's got skill." He said to himself as he turned the Omega to face his opponent. To his surprise, the enemy machine was another OT-005 Buzzsaw like the one he piloted. "A Buzzsaw. This guy must be an ace."

The Buzzsaw before him put its rifle on its rear skirt plate and pulled a beam saber out of the compartment on its left wing with its right hand. Lance charged in and swung the saber at his opponent. Their sabers clashed when his opponent blocked with his saber and the force made their blades bounce off one another. Lance swung again from a different angle and his opponent still blocked it. "How about this?" Lance had the Omega reach behind itself and pull out its other beam saber before rushing in for another attack. He swung with one saber and it was blocked again, then he swung with the other. The Buzzsaw saw it coming so reached over to its right shoulder, pulled out its other saber and blocked the Omega's other saber too. "Damn!" Lance started swinging both saber simultaneously and each one was blocked by his opponent's sabers. This was a shock to Lance. The reason being that he is one of the few pilots that can handle a mobile suit using two sabers at the same time. Who else could know how to manipulate a mobile suit so well? While he was thinking about it, the opposing suit charged at him with both sabers and brought them down at the Omega. "Oh shit!" Lance quickly blocked them with his saber and both suits were in a saber lock. Lance tried to look away from the immense amount of light produced by the two beams. But as he did, he noticed something. There was an emblem on the left shoulder of the Buzzsaw. He stared at it for a bit and noticed that it was a butterfly, a monarch. He remembers seeing it before too. It was a painting that he really liked from an art show he had gone to during his school days. The person that painted it was Lyra Ora. Was the pilot Lyra Ora? He thought it was impossible, but he had to find out. He reached for the button that produced flashes of light for coded messages and tapped on it. The message was his communication channel. When he got done transmitting he waited for the pilot to respond.

"What is it?"

Lance heard a woman's voice. That alone was proof enough. "Lyra?"

"W-wha…how do you know my name?!"

Lance started taking breaths. The though that a nice girl like Lyra was piloting a mobile suit and fighting him was incredibly shocking and hard to comprehend. "It's me, Lance…remember?"

The Buzzsaw suddenly started to remove force from its attack and started backing up as it deactivated its sabers. The Omega stood up straight and both suits stared at one another. "Lance? Really?"

Lance nodded his head inside the cockpit. "Yeah, it's me. Lance Terra."

"Oh my god, the last time I saw you was two years ago!" she said. "I was told you were pulled out of school and forced to join the military!"

"Yeah."

"But, why did you steal that mobile suit?" she asked. "Why are you with the resistance?"

"Why are you in the military?!" he asked.

"Answer my question first."

Lance fell silent for a moment. "I saw this as the right path. I knew that staying within the rule of the government was like being trapped in a bird cage." That answer was based on how he felt. "Now what's your story? You should be around seventeen or eighteen."

"I'm eighteen." She answered. "And I joined the military because I was rejected from every college available to me and I had no other way of supporting my family."

"But why a mobile suit pilot?!" he asked. "That's the most dangerous position to join!"

"Why are you a pilot?!"

"I had no choice!"

"Cadet Ora, what are you doing?!" said the voice that interrupted their conversation.

The alarm in the Omega's cockpit went off as it detected an incoming mobile suit from its left. Lance turned to identify this threat and saw an OT-003 approaching with its anti-ship sword detached from its charging rack on its back pack and now being held in its only attached arm. This machine was at a disadvantage at this point. The anti-ship sword that it carried was heavy and was meant to be carried in two hands because it was used to penetrate battle ship armor. To handle it with one would leave the machine utilizing it wide open when swinging it and could potentially damage the motors in the arm while on the other hand, the beam saber was almost weightless in the hands of a mobile suit. The OT-003 brought its weapon over its head and activated the beam edge on the cutting side as it charged at the Omega Gundam.

Lance immediately took action. He crossed the Omega's arms while the sabers were still in hand and waited for the oncoming enemy to get within range. Once the opposing machine came within range, it swung its massive weapon down at the Omega. When it did, it left itself wide open. Lance used this opening for his attack. He uncrossed the arms and swung the saber blades through the arm of the mobile suit like a pair of scissor blades. After removing its weapon, Lance aimed lower. Turning his attention to the mobile suit's abdominal section, he manipulated the controls to have the Omega swing the beam sabers together and each blade came in contact with both sides of the machine's hips and passed threw them with very little resistance. The cut in the mobile suit split it in two and ruptured the main generator. When the generator in a mobile suit has taken enough damage, it will melt down and detonate. Lance was well aware of this hazard, so he distanced his machine from the struck down mobile weapon with its thrusters before it finally exploded, killing the pilot, and sending pieces of shrapnel everywhere.

Lyra's Buzzsaw put up its beam shield to avoid damage from the explosion and the metal parts of the mobile suit destroyed as a result of it. She was amazed and shocked at the same time. Amazed that Lance some one could react in time to pull those actions off and shocked that Lance, a soldier from the Rebirth military, was will to kill a soldier from the same military. Shortly after the loss of that mobile suit, Lyra gave the signal to retreat to any surviving pilots. She quickly activated her suit's propulsion systems and jetted off. In the middle of her retreat, she spotted the upper torso 2nd Lt. Walker's mobile suit laying face down in the sand. Assuming that he is still alive, her suit reached down and pulled it out of the sand and flew off with it. Following her was a heavily damaged OT-003 sting.

Lance watched his former class mate that he has not seen in two years fly away from him as he caught his breath after the fighting. Matt was confirmed alive and unharmed with minor damage to his unit. All of them returned to their hover transport after the enemy was confirmed to be out of range. When they got close to the Kappa, Lance noticed that one of its four hover units was damaged. He believed that he must have gotten so caught up in his fight with Lyra that one of the suits got by and landed a blow on their carrier. No one was hurt, however.

**Kappa: Main Bridge…**

"The enemy pursuit team was repelled, Sir—they've turned tail." Said Christopher as he watched the heat signatures on the radar vanish. "They did it."

James let out a sigh of relief as the battle came to a close. "We had one close call, but we managed to pull through." He said rubbing the sides of his head. "I want a damage report on the Kappa as well as our mobile suits; and I want to know when we can start moving." He said. "They know we're positioned here and we need to move from this position quick." At this point Rebirth knew their location; and with one of the Kappa's hover units damaged, they will not be able to get very far. James was well aware of the situation.

"Yes, Sir." said Christopher.

**Gaia City Military Base: Central Command Center…**

Lyra took off her helmet to let her blonde hair flow freely after being stuffed up into it as she stood in attention among her superiors. She was unharmed, but both Walker and the OT-003 pilot sustained injuries from the battle. Commander Cullen paced back and forth in front of them with his hands behind his back after being filled in on the battle and why the situation called for a retreat. Also present in the room was Lucrezia and Danny. "We lost two mobile suits while the rebels lost none…we located the enemy carrier, and damaged it, at such costs." He said. Then he stopped and faced them. "I didn't think the mission would be that difficult."

"Sir." started Walker. "With all due respect, but that mobile suit, the Omega, has proven to be very dangerous. It took down the two suits and damaged a third."

After hearing this information, Danny, who sat on the table in the center of the room that displayed computer generated images of the surrounding area, started laughing out loud. This was noticeable to everyone and they all turned their faces towards him. Danny calmed down and smiled. "Looks like this lad has got some tricks up his sleeve, am I right?" He swung his legs that hung off the edge back and fourth which displayed how formal he acts around other soldiers. "Or is this only possible because of the Gundam?" He hopped off onto his feet and crossed his arms. "I think I want to have a shot at this, Lance Terra."

Cullen stared at Danny with displeasure on how he reacts during the current situation. It made him question if he really was who they claim he is. "I'm sure you'll get your chance." Cullen turned to the returning pilots. "Rest up, be prepared to sortie at a moment's notice." Then he turned about to the other soldiers managing the command center. "I want that rebel craft monitored at all times and any available suits prepped for battle within 24 hours."

Lyra saluted Cullen after receiving her orders and left the command center. As she did, feelings of guilt fell upon her as she thought of her reunion with Lance. During their years as class mates she admired his ability to stand out among all of the other students and enjoyed sitting down to talk with him every once in a while before he suddenly vanished. She even developed feeling for him.

**Kappa: Mobile Suit Hanger…**

Lance gulped down the drink Renji brought to him upon his return and made a sigh of relief. "You kicked ass out there, buddy." said Renji taking the empty container from Lance. "They said you took down three mobile suits out there."

"Yeah." said Lance looking down. The encounter with Lyra was what shocked him the most. Their encounter also gave him a bigger view of the whole picture and a better idea as to what he has gotten himself into. If he had stayed with the military, he would not have to fight with Lyra. Instead, they could have gotten together again and enjoy on another's company. But they cannot do that anymore; he cannot even see her anymore. He truly has lost everything with this decision. And now he can never go back, not after killing a fellow soldier.

"Hey Lance, are you okay?" asked Renji as he patted him on the shoulder.

"I really have lost everything…"

TO BE CONTINUED…


End file.
